The Birthday.

Some girl leaves her house looking for her dog when Klaus shows up. "I promise I'm not a serial killer, I just want to use your phone," he says before grabbing her throat and asking for some southern hospitality. They go inside and he asks her house-mate where Ray is. She tries running, only to run into Stefan. The ladies tell them where Ray is and then Klaus leaves Stefan to kill them.

Elena lies in bed missing Stefan. She wakes up Jeremy and sends him to work before getting on the phone with Caroline. They talk about werewolf spottings and Elena asks her to keep tonight's party small. Alaric wakes up on the couch.

Damon drinks champagne in the tub. Naked, he strolls downstairs for more and runs into Elena. She chucks a towel at him and tells him the latest Klaus-Stefan tip. He's sarcastic but agrees to check it out. Upstairs, he sticks the tip on a map and asks Andi to get him an address. Teaming up with Alaric they chase the lead down. They find the dead women. Damon recognizes his brother's handiwork and explains that he takes them apart and then puts them back together in remorse. They notice the werewolf dungeon in the basement before they torch the place.

Ray Sutton walks into a bar when Klaus arrives. Ray wants to leave but Stefan shows up to keep him there. Klaus explains that he's a hybrid and asks to be directed to the pack. Stefan pulls out some wolfs-bane. He dips it in scotch, ties Ray to a dartboard and starts throwing darts in his face to get him to talk. He can hear one of their spies tell Klaus that Damon has been snooping. Stefan asks if he can deal with it. "I'll make sure my brother doesn't bother us anymore," he promises.

Jeremy is at Mystic Grill chatting with Bonnie on the phone. She senses something is wrong but he's not opening up. The lights flicker and his dead girlfriends appear in the shadows. Matt yelps at him to go out and wait on Tyler and Caroline. After lunch, the wolf and vamp head over to see Elena and help with the party. Elena complains about Damon and insists she only kissed him because she thought he was dying. She leaves them alone and they both talk about how horny they are. "I hope you get lucky tonight," she says.

At home, Damon gives Elena the necklace she thought she'd lost. He puts it on her. They go downstairs to the party, which is much larger than she was anticipating. Matt and Jeremy are smoking a spliff. Jeremy explains that he's been seeing things and he thinks dope will help. Matt strolls over to Elena to wish her happy birthday and ignores Caroline. Elena goes outside to Alaric and Damon to complain about Jer. Across the room, Caroline stares at Tyler dancing with a woman and then starts bickering with Matt. Tyler comes over and Caroline sends his date away. She goes upstairs for some blood when she runs into Elena. Caroline wishes her friend would get on with her life. Elena just wants to know that Stefan is alive. She looks in Damon's room and finds the tracking map. She calls him to complain and he hangs up. Caroline goes back downstairs and starts bickering with Tyler. He reminds her that she shot him down. She kisses him and they run off together. They head to his place, tear off their clothes and jump in bed. She tries sneaking out as he sleeps but Mrs. Lockwood catches her and suddenly shoots her down with a tranquilizer gun.

As Andi is leaving work, someone shines a light in her face to freak her out. She runs and falls. Stefan shows up and he's not happy. He makes her call his brother over. Stefan tells his brother to let him go. Damon isn't willing so Stefan makes Andi leap from the ceiling onto her face. He vanishes as Damon picks up his girlfriend's corpse. Damon heads home and Elena rags on him for him keeping his search a secret. He says she's been an idiot and explains that Stefan has been leaving corpses all over the country. She needs to stop waiting for him. "He's not coming back. Not in your lifetime," he says.

Back at the party, Jeremy and Matt are still baked. They climb into Jeremy's car and he panics when he thinks he sees Vicki. When he turns on the car, he sees his dead girlfriend. "Maybe we should walk," he suggests. They get the munchies and go to Jer's to eat ice cream. Matt asks what's really going on and Jeremy says he's been seeing Vicki. "I think I see her all the time too," Matt says. Meanwhile, Elena heads home and finds Alaric packing his stuff to move out. He thinks he's useless right now and she'll be better off without him.

Back at the bar, Klaus is still questioning Ray. He makes him drink his blood as Stefan returns. Then he slits Ray's throat. Klaus taunts Stefan about caring too much for family. Stefan mopes out alone and calls Elena. When she picks up, he says nothing but she knows it's him and says she loves him.

Cryptic commentary: Carol shot my Caroline? I didn't expect that. It was good to see Tyler and Caroline finally get together. They both had some great energy. Actually, the whole episode was nicely spread out over all of the characters. Matt and Jeremy were good to see together. More Alaric and Damon would be great. Elena is 18 but she's still a drag. However, Stefan going back to his ripper roots has already made him more interesting than he's ever been.